Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for Windows PC

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is an insanely addictive game that combines elements of role playing games with a puzzle combat feature. Essentially, it's a puzzle game with a main character. This game is available on just about every video game system, including the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo Wii. This review is of the PC version, so I won't be able to compare differences, though I believe the games to all be basically the same.

You start the game by creating a character, just like you would in a typical RPG (role playing game) like part of the Final Fantasy series. From there, you venture out onto a map where you will be assigned various different quests. Sometimes these quests involve finding items or rescuing people, other times it involves removing some kind of villain to clear the way for others. As you progress through these missions, new pathways will open up to reveal more challenges.

Instead of combat, all of the conflicts in this game are settled by way of puzzles, hence the name of the game. The main puzzle type you will play involves matching three or more jewels of the same color, and there are several colors on each puzzle board. As you make a match, more jewels will drop in from the top of the screen. In addition to these jewels, skulls will appear, and matching three or more of them will do damage to your opponent. You can also collect the jewels to earn mana for casting various spells that will also damage your opponent. It's completely bloodless and nonviolent, sort of like Bejeweled, but with a lot more features.

In addition to the main puzzle, there are some other puzzle types that are used. If you want to capture an opponent, there is a puzzle where you have to eliminate all the pieces from the board, and they are arranged in a way that requires a bit of strategy. Some of them are very difficult, too. There's another puzzle type where you must get specific combinations of certain items in order to learn new spells or construct items.

After each battle, you will be awarded gold and experience points. Even if you don't win, you'll still get a little something out of it. This gold can be used to buy new items, such as armor or weapons that help you with the puzzles, or you can buy stat points. When you go up in level, you can increase your stat points to give you more health, stronger damage, or specialize in certain magic types. This will also increase your magic resistance to help when enemies use magic against you.

The graphics in this game are pretty decent, though certainly nothing flashy for a modern game. There are no 3D scenes or huge animations, and most of the in-between puzzle parts are done using still images. The puzzle parts themselves employ a lot of fade effects and some nice animations. You will play the same puzzles hundreds of times, so anything overly gaudy would just get annoying after seeing it for the umpteenth time.

The music in this game really stands out as excellent, and I especially loved the warning sound of the simple trumpet note that plays when your health is almost gone. It seamlessly blends into the background music, which is an uplifting classical score worthy of a movie.

You can buy Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords brand new for less than $20, and I think it is well worth it. I spent more hours than I'd like to admit playing this game, and it never ceased to be fun and challenging. I think the final boss battle is a bit on the ridiculous side in terms of difficulty, but it is still a genuinely fun game that can be enjoyed by all ages.